Men and Women retiring alone to a new city/state -- where will you go and why? (coverage, trouble)

[Avalon08]

Nancy, I just ordered the book as well. As I mentioned, I'm somewhat familiar with The Villages but am curious to hear what the book has to say.

By the way, if you call Laguna Woods Village, they will send you a packet of information that is very helpful, including their monthly newsletter. It appears to me that's it's an educated and intelligent group, and as I mentioned, there is a financial requirement that hopefully keeps out the riff-raff. (In fact, I don't even know if I can get in! LOL)

[nancy thereader]

By the way, if you call Laguna Woods Village, they will send you a packet of information that is very helpful, including their monthly newsletter. It appears to me that's it's an educated and intelligent group, and as I mentioned, there is a financial requirement that hopefully keeps out the riff-raff. (In fact, I don't even know if I can get in! LOL)

Thanks, I'll do that.

[pennel]

OMG !!!!, SO GLAD I found all you women. I too am retired and dont know where to go. LOL
I dont want to go to the desert, its just too hot for me. I lived in Las Vegas for sixteen years and had enough of that heat. Im thinking of the Carolinas. I want some southern charm, I know I will have to get use to the humidity, but I think I can take that over the heat with the blazing sun. I like to walk alot and hike and ride a bike. I would have to leave my
daughter and thats going to be hard. I live with her here in Ca, cause I cannot afford a place of my own out here. This place is really crazy, high
taxes, the cost of everything is so expensive. I sold my dads house just recently and so I have alittle money to start over somewhere. I have heard some good things about NC. I want to go and check it out when the hurricanes stop.
I have a son in Ohio, but would never live in that state. I think it is the worst state in the US. LOL!!!
So gals keep posting, and we all will find somewhere to move to.
Thanks again for all the info.

Pennel

[ConeyIsBabe]

Pennel..... like you, I lived in a HOT climate for over 40 years in s/Florida and I had the HUMIDITY in addition. So when I retired I moved 3,000 miles out west where there are 4 beautiful seasons and none of that debilitating heat. Well, now my old bones are too cold in the long, bleak winters and my memories of the balmy ocean breeze of Florida call me. Sometimes, we are never satisfied !

[FlightAttendant]

I moved to the Charlotte area (alone) 10 months ago. while I am not retired, I am not far from it.

Charlotte is a nice place to live. There are wonderful communities is S charlotte...I selected Ft Mill just south of the NC/SC line (lower taxes and an easy commute to CLT). I am renting a townhouse until I get the "feel" for both the region and for the housing market. I pay $900 for a new, beautiful townhouse with washer and dryer and a garage. It is 18 miles from the CLT airport.

I spent my first winter here last winter and it was fantastic. NO SNOW! I dont think I ever wore a real winter coat. Heating bills were very reasonable. I hear they sometimes get ice here but so far, so good. When ice does come, everyone here stays home and enjoys being safe. This summer has been beautiful. Hot? Yes...but not too bad..and not nearly the humidity I expected.

I do miss some of the amenities of larger, more cosmopolitan cities. the grocery stores here are adequate but, unless you want PORK (Pork is KING here) or chicken, some of the other meats (lamb, veal for example) are hard to come by. Seafood is also not particularly good here. At least, I havent found it to be so good.

Traffic here is what you would expect of a major city. It is far and away an improvement over where I moved from (DC area).

All in all, CLT is a good place for a single woman to make a new life. Welcome.

[Avalon08]

This summer has been beautiful. Hot? Yes...but not too bad..and not nearly the humidity I expected.

Welcome, FlightAttendant and Pennel! I just wanted to say, it seems that the East Coast in general had a very moderate summer in terms of humidity. If I had to judge my area (Jersey shore) based on this past year, I'd say move here! There was virtually no snow, no ice at all, and a gorgeous summer with moderate humidity. I think it was an anomaly, though, in terms of the humidity. The last few summers, I thought it was horrible! But anyway, congrats on finding a good spot for retirement; I too have heard many good things about the Charlotte (and Asheville) areas.

[janetvj]

Hi Everyone:
I hope it's o.k to jump in. I am hoping to retire next July. I have over 31 years in with my employer and was eligible to retire at 30. Everyday I wake up and come up with reason after reason as to why I don't want to go to work, so I know it's time. The good thing is I have a guaranteed pension; the bad thing is that it's slightly less than half of my current salary. I'm terrified as to how I'm going to make ends meet. I currently live in Baltimore, and still have about 13 years left on my mortgage loan. I spend a lot of time in Florida, and I love it there, and in today's economy if I could sell my house, I could buy something modest in Florida and not have a mortgage payment. I think I could actually afford to do this, but I've never been an adventurous person, and quite frankly, I'm scared. I live within 5 miles of where I was born. I've never taken chances in my life. How do I do this?
Janet

[FlightAttendant]

Hi Janet,

You CAN do it. I did it and it was much less traumatic that I thought it would be. I moved from your hometown, Baltimore. Honestly, there are better places to live. Baltimore has so much crime and heavy-handed politics.

I sold my home in Baltimore in Oct 07. Admittedly, the market was still "alive but on life support". I hear its gotten worse. On the brighter side, I also hear that people are still moving to MD and looking for homes. Talk with a realtor or two and get comps for your home, etc. Price the house realistically and with luck it will sell.

I suggest that you start by taking some time and actually drive down to the areas you are considering. I stopped in grocery stores, shopping centers, checked out hospitals, etc. One of the very best tools I used was Citi-data! Most big cities have their own forums and the information that you can gather there is worth its weight in gold.

Look at this as the biggest adventure of your life...go for it!!

[janetvj]

FlightAttendant - thank you for your words of encouragement! I have actually visited the area. I spent over a week there in May, and checked out different neighborhoods that I thought I might like. I talked to lots of people, and everyone was very helpful. I plan to go back this winter, since I know a state like Florida can be very different during tourist season.

I think my biggest fear is the financial thing, and that is clearly due to my early adult life. I'm sort of a cliche I guess. I quit school and got married very young. My ex-husband had substance abuse problems, and I eventually became a single parent with 3 kids to raise. I've been the welfare route, and I swore never again. I went back to school, and although I never finished my degree, I was able to work my way up to a middle-management position finally making a decent income. My kids are now adults, and although I'm not by any stretch of the word wealthy, I'm financially comfortable for the first time in my life. I'm 53 years old, so I would be a fairly young retiree. Part of me thinks I have to be insane to consider taking a chance like this. But I've come to the point where I really don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I really am starting to hate my job.

Sorry for rambling. I'll figure it out eventually! But it's reassuring to know there are other women out there that have been able to do this with no regrets.

Janet

[knoxgarden]

Does your company's retirement plan include health insurance? That's a big and expensive stumbling block if you retire before Medicare kicks in.
If you've got that covered, seriously consider it. I would suggest spending more than a week in a place before moving there. And look into all the costs, particularly things like home and car insurance in Florida, cost of electricity, property taxes.
We've got a lot of people on the City-Data Knoxville board moving from Florida because of the high costs.